Missile hits Ukraine town: 43 injured, claims of Russian war crime rise

In an incident that shook the town of Pervomaisky in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, at least 43 individuals, of which 12 were children, sustained injuries. This tragedy was the result of a missile, believed to be of Russian origin, hitting a car park situated within a residential building, BBC reported. Ukrainian officials reported that this incident took place yesterday at around 1.30pm in the local time zone.

The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, gave a brief account of the scene. According to him, in the vicinity of the missile strike, there were no military installations, but only homes occupied by innocent civilians. The affected include an infant only 10 months old, and a toddler who has recently celebrated their first birthday.

Kostin made stern remarks condemning the mindless attack on residential habitats, calling out Russia’s action as yet another war crime. Oleg Sinegubov, the governor of the region, used the social media platform Telegram to share several photographics showing the extent of damage from the missile explosion.

These shared images present a bleak perspective, with shattered windows, billows of black smoke filling the horizon, and even an automobile flipped onto its roof due to the intense blast.

Local media reported Anton Orekhov, the chairman of Pervomaiskyi, saying…

“At least half of the neighbourhood is in an uninhabitable state.”

Russia, at the time of this report, maintained silence regarding this distressing incident. Moscow’s stance has historically been one of denial, dismissing any accusations of targeting non-combatant civilians.

The town of Pervomaisky, located roughly 90 kilometres from the significant city of Kharkiv, has remained relatively distant from the central areas of confrontation predominantly situated in the Donbas region. Yet, this has not spared the town from the conflict. The northeastern Kharkiv region, too, observed its share of intense warfare in the initial phases of Moscow’s full-scale military incursion last year.

Earlier in the day, reports emanated from Russia claiming the successful intercept and destruction of five Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow and surrounding areas. According to the Russian authorities, these actions resulted in no harmful consequences or physical damage.